Friday's Grief Song, 10.13.23

"Yeah all those stars drip down like butter"

I was 12 years old and in 7th grade when R.E.M’s Monster came out. I was a pretty big R.E.M fan, already accustomed to the Georgia band’s particular brand of rock n roll, and in love with lead singer Micheal Stipe’s style of singing, which noted for his unique ability for keening, wailing, crooning, as well as his tendency for mumbled singing making lyrics indecipherable at times. It makes sense then that eventually R.E.M would make it into the weekly grief song line up.

The two big songs off the album that got the most airtime were Bang and Blame (which I love don’t get me wrong), and What’s the Frequency Kenneth? However, the song that gutted me, that I hit repeat over and over again, was a grief infused wail of a song if ever I heard one. In researching for this week’s song I came across this interview where the band talks about the origin of this song. Kurt Cobain’s death in April 1994 shook the entire band to the point that the entire Monster process was shut down, according to Stipe, for about ten days. Bassist Mike Mills was playing a guitar and these angry sad chords came out. Stipe wrote the lyrics in five minutes. What a song.

It’s Let Me In.

Listen here to the original album release 1994 version here or the 25th anniversary re-mixed version here. They’re both stunning.

Let me know what you think.

Let Me In
by R.E.M
Monster
1994

Yeah, all those stars drip down like butter
And promises are sweet
We hold out our pans with our hands to catch them
We eat them up, drink them up, up, up, up

Hey, let me in
Hey, let me in

I only wish that I could hear you whisper down
Mister fisher moved to a less peculiar ground
He gathered up his loved ones and he brought them all around
To say goodbye, nice try

Hey, let me in
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Hey, let me in
Let me in

I had a mind to try to stop you
Let me in, let me in
And I've got tar on my feet and I can't see all the birds
Look down and laugh at me, clumsy, crawling out of my skin

Hey, let me in
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Hey, let me in
Hey, let me in
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Hey, let me in

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